The Girl Who Loved Richard Cory
by justsingtome
Summary: Whenever Richard Cory went down town, we people on the pavement looked at him, he was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored, and imperially slim...What if one girl saw past all of his riches, and loved him as someone other than Superior Mr. Cory?
1. Richard Cory

Alright! Well, this is my first story. But before I get into posting it, I think it would be really helpful to read the poem that the story is based off of. I did not write it; Edwin Arlington Robinson did, and I love him for it.

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**Richard Cory  
**_By Edwin Arlingtion Robinson_

"Whenever Richard Cory went down town  
We people on the pavement looked at him  
He was a gentleman from sole to crown  
Clean favored, and imperially slim

And he was always quietly arrayed  
And he was always human when he talked  
But still he fluttered pulses when he said  
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king  
And admirably schooled in every grace  
In fine, we thought that he was everything  
To make us wish that we were in his place

So on we worked, and waited for the light  
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread  
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night  
Went home and put a bullet through his head"


	2. The Library

Everyone was in complete awe of Richard Cory. He made daily excursions into town, his watch chain always dangling casually out of the left pocket of his sleek black trousers. His expensive black shoes reflected the sun's light as they clicked, heel to toe, across the pavement. At this particular time of day, the sun cast his tall, imperially slim shadow out in front of him.

"Hello there, Ms. Baker," he said with a smile as he passed a plump, middle aged woman with curly orange hair. She grinned nervously back at him. Shifting her groceries onto her other hip, she replied, "Hello." She scurried off, heading towards the village.

Mr. Cory shook his head as he turned a corner and continued walking.

The outside of the library building seemed rather depressing; as though it were about to topple over. The brick exterior looked like it was deteriorating, and the 100 year old building seemed lacking of its former glory.

A bell rang as he entered the library. The inside, however, was a marvelous sight. Books lined shelves on every wall, floor to ceiling. The checkout counter was located in the middle of the large first floor room. Spiral staircases were located at either end of the room, leading up to the second and third floors. Soft, comfortable chairs and couches were scattered about the room: against the walls, between rows of books, and near the checkout area. People sat reading newspapers and magazines quietly, maintaining the stereotypical atmosphere of quietness throughout the building.

He climbed the spiral staircase, watching the people reading on the first floor slowly spin out of sight. He walked down row upon row of books, but it didn't frustrate him that the book he was looking wasn't in the place it was supposed to be. He liked walking browsing all of the titles incase something caught his fancy. The upper levels of the library looked the same as the ground floor, except for the checkout desks. Instead, there was a shelf that held all of the books that were just returned, but haven't been put back yet. Most people thought it was strictly for library staff to look through, but Richard knew that anyone could. Most people didn't even care; in fact, the whole town just bustled about, doing what they were supposed to do and never taking time to do something they wanted to do.

He found his book on the unsorted shelf, and decided to keep looking around. He turned the corner of one of the bookcases, carefully scanning titles as he walked. He looked to the right of him, where he found a young woman with long, wavy auburn hair reaching for a book on the top shelf. It was clear that she wasn't going to reach it; even in heels she was about five feet and four inches tall. Mr. Cory easily towered over her by a foot or so. "Let me help you with that, miss," he said politely, walking over to where she was standing. She said nothing, only eyed him curiously with her striking green eyes. He reached up, then looked back down at her. "Which one?" From his height, when he looked back down at her, her head was tilted at an angle so that her hair fell behind her small, seashell shaped ears. He couldn't help but smile warmly down at her.

"Um, the green one." She didn't return his smile.

He took the book off the shelf and handed it over to her with another attempt to get a smile out of her. "Thanks," she said, not sounding the least bit thankful. She eyed him quickly up and down, then turned on her heels and walked away. He took a step backwards, and he could see her walking quickly towards the spiral staircase. Her red cotton dress flowed from side to side as she walked, accentuating her small waist. He chuckled lightly as she jogged down the stars, her head quickly bobbing out of sight. Ten minutes later, he headed down to the checkout desk himself.

As he came down the stairs, he saw that the line was a little long. It didn't bother him, and he was quite delighted when he stepped in line behind the same woman for whom he had gotten the book down of the shelf for. She didn't notice him fall into step behind her, and even though he desired to, he wasn't about to try to strike up a conversation. He figured that, considering their previous encounter, he wouldn't get very far.

After about a minute or so, there was only one person in front of the woman ahead of Mr. Cory. He dug his library card out of his pocket, knocking his pen onto the ground in the process. It landed just a head of the woman with auburn hair. She bent down to pick it up. "Here," she said as she straightened up. She turned around, only to see Richard Cory smiling at her. He tried to ignore the fact that her face fell when he took the pen back. He leaned in, ever so slightly towards her. "Thank you, miss…..?"

"My name is Carmen." She turned around. The person in front of her finished and she checked her book out. As she finished and turned to leave, he stopped her. "Nice to meet you," he said. "I'm-"

"I know who you are," she interrupted, walking past him. "Good day, Mr. Cory," she said without looking back.

"Please," Richard started, but she just kept walking, leaving him staring after her as she left the building. "Call me Richard." He stepped up to the counter and sighed as he dropped his book onto the counter.

"She'll be a tough one to charm, Mr. Cory." The old librarian was looking at him over the rims of her glasses, a sly smile playing across her lips. Mr. Cory picked up a display brochure from the counter and flipped through it in what he hoped would seem like a casual manner. "Who said I was trying to charm her?"

The lady raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Cory. I may be old, but that doesn't mean that I'm completely oblivious."

"I was simply trying to cheer her up, Stella. She appeared to be stressed out."

"Well, she's been 'stressed out' ever since your father laid off some of his workers over at the factory, her brother being one of them. He is very sick as it is, and now they can't afford the medical bills for treatments anymore.

Mr. Cory shook his head. "You know I had nothing to do with my father cutting workers, Stella."

"Aye, but Carmen doesn't, does she?"

She handed him his book. "You know, Mr. Cory, she may seem like a cold person, but she's pushing people away because she's afraid to let anyone get close enough to hurt her even more. She hasn't had much luck with relationships in the past, either." Mr. Cory nodded. "Thanks, Stella." He began to walk towards the door, but Stella stopped him. With a wink, she said, "Some coffee from down at 'The Coffee Pot' might do you some good today. You look like you could use some caffeine."

With a smile, he nodded a goodbye and walked out of the library.


End file.
